The Idea of Islamic Literature Does Not Find Support Even Among Islamic Writers
By S. Arshad, New Age Islam
30 November 2021
Islamic
Literature, Like the Communist Literature Is Unacceptable To the Literary World
Main
Points:
1.
Literature is secular in
nature.
2.
Literature deals with the
iissues of entire humanity.
3.
Literature should not be
communalized.
----
Since literature is a mirror of life and
society, modern human society has tried to use literature to fulfil its social,
political and religious goals. In every age or in every society the dominant
political stream or group has tried to use literature to spread its political
ideology. For example, communist states tried to communize literature and such
literature was widely created, published and distributed. The progressive
movement that was based on communism was made popular by Indian writers
including Urdu writers during the thirties till the sixties. Other ideological
groups also tried to use literature for the spread of their ideology.
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Also Read: Lack of Social and Literary Commitment in
Contemporary Urdu Literature
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On this line, the movement for Islamic
literature (Islami Adab was also started in Pakistan after the independence of
India. Renowned critic Mohammad Hasan
Askari was the most vocal exponent of Islamic literature in Pakistan. He wanted
to shape the concept of Islami Adab. But it did not go too far as it was
promoted as an opponent of the progressive movement that was based on
communism.
However, the idea of Islamic literature did
not die completely. Since literature consists of poetry and fiction (stories,
novels etc), it was debated if fiction is permitted by Islam and if so, what
kind of fiction can be permitted. The other problem was that the common belief
among Muslims was that poetry is condemned by Islam, though, in reality, the
Quran only discourages purposeless and negative poetry that promotes un-Islamic
practices and beliefs.
From the verses of the Quran and from
hadiths, it becomes clear that Islam is not against literature but that Islam
has some guiding principles for literature. Urdu critics and ideologues have
tried to define Islamic literature (Islami Adab) according to their own
understanding. Pakistani critic Saleem Ahmad writes:
“Islamic literature means the literature that
expresses the Islamic way of thinking about God, Universe and Man.” .Saleem
Ahmad
In his book “Islami Afsanawi Adab”, Dr
Mohammad Tariq Aiyubi Nadwi writes:
“Islamic literature is the piece of
literature which apart from having a purpose should be a product of the
author’s intuition which is derived from his life and Islamic concepts of the
universe in the light of the Quran and Hadith.”
According to Dr Tariq Aiyubi, the idea of
Islami Adab (Islamic literature) was first presented by Syed Qutb of Egypt and
later by Indian Islamic scholar Maulana Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi.
In Islam, the first specimens of Islamic
literature can be found in the Qasas of the Quran which are told to drive home
the Quranic messages of the unity of God, moral and ethical values, scientific
temperament and tolerance, self-restraint and endurance. But since the Qasas
were not fiction and were based on real incidents, fiction does not find
support in the Quran.
The specimens of Islamic poetry are found
in the Naat (Poems of praise of the Prophet pbuh) and the poems of the
companions of the prophet pbuh that were composed on Islamic conquests and on
personal experiences of the Muslims. For example, Hadhrat Bilal expressed his
personal feelings after migration to Madina in poetry. The prophet pbuh and his
companions would recite couplets during the wars. In Urdu, Allama Iqbal’s
poetry can be categorized as the specimens of Islamic poetry. Poetry of Altaf
Hussain Hali is largely part of Islamic literature because he had the same idea
of literature that later Iqbal adopted.
Since fiction does not have the support of
the Quran and hadith, Arab writers did not take interest in fiction for
centuries and many Islamic critics do not still encourage fiction but there are
some modern Arab critics who consider fiction a powerful medium for propagating
Islamic ideas and messages. Therefore, according to Mohammad Sabagh:
“If the missionary of the religion (Dayi)
is capable of bringing this powerful medium (fiction) under the confines of
Islam, fiction will become a noble medium.” (Islami Afsanwi Adab by Dr Tariq
Aiyubi page 68)
Taking his stand further some critics say
that when Islam claims to be a complete system of life, it cannot reject
literature as it is a fundamental and quintessential part of human society.
Literature caters to the aesthetic needs of the human society and Islam
appreciates aestheticism.
“Allah loves aesthetic values” goes the
Islamic adage. Prof. Nejatullah Siddiquee writes:
Since the movement of Islamic literature
was mainly promoted by the religious section for promoting Islamic ideology,
the larger secular section of Muslim writers considered the genre only a
vehicle for spreading the messages of Islam and hadiths and therefore, thought
that Islamic literature will have many limitations on and matter and the use of
diction This discouraged them from promoting this genre. If poetry and fiction
is legitimized by the Islamic scholars, there remains the risk of using fiction
and poetry for militant and extremist purposes.
Though literature has in the past been used
for carrying forward political and social ideology, such a literature has not
been appreciated widely and only those pieces of such literature have acquired
universal acceptance which dealt with universal issues of common interest. Gorky’s Mother falls in that category of
literature.
Therefore, a literature based on any
religious ideology like Islami Adab will not get universal acceptance even by
Muslim writers because then they will be considered subscribers to a communal
ideology. Literature has always remained secular in nature. It has reflected
the emotions and problems of the entire humanity. Therefore, the idea of
Islamic literature needs to be defined clearly so that its contours become
distinct. As of now, the idea of Islamic literature is vague. Therefore, Prof,
Nejatullah Siddiquee writers;
“The
movement for the Islamic literature is in its infancy and Urdu Islamic writes
are going through the experimental phase. If the idea is clear and the goal is
in sight, we can expect that the number of true Islamic litterateurs and the
volume of Islamic literature will keep increasing and will impact the
society.”(Islam aur funun-e-latifa by Prof Nejatullah Siddiquee)
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-culture/islamic-literature-writers/d/125868
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